New York, May 18 (ANI): International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Dominque Struass-Khan would defend himself in court by claiming that he had consensual sex with a hotel maid in New York, his lawyer has said.

Strauss-Kahn was charged with a criminal sex act and attempted rape over the alleged sexual assault of the hotel maid, after being arrested and removed from a plane on the tarmac of John F. Kennedy Airport.

His attorney, Benjamin Brafman, however said at New York criminal court that his client did not attempt to rape the maid, reports the Telegraph.

"The evidence, we believe, will not be consistent with a forcible encounter," he said after prosecutors, who say a medical examination of the maid "corroborates her accounts", had alleged to have discovered blood in the hotel room.

The maid's attorney, Jeff Shapiro, rejected the claim.

"There is no way in which there is any aspect of this event which could be construed consensual in any manner. This is nothing other than a physical, sexual assault by this man on this young woman," Shapiro said.

Turning down speculations that the maid could have been involved in a conspiracy, Shapiro said: "This is a woman with no agenda," and that she had not even known who Strauss-Kahn was.

According to other reports, the woman had told police that Strauss-Kahn emerged from the bathroom naked, chased her down a hallway and pulled her into a bedroom, where he began to sexually assault her. She said she fought him off, but then he dragged her into the bathroom. The woman was able to break free again, escaped the room and told hotel staff what had happened, and they called police.

Strauss-Kahn, who is an economist and lawyer, has risen to prominence while captaining the IMF through one of the world's worst financial crises, and has led the IMF since 2007.

He is also widely believed to challenge French president Nicolas Sarkozy in next year's presidential election, and polls show he would have a good chance of removing the sitting president out of his office. (ANI)